Strategic Analysis | 2021
Infrastructure of Injustice: State and Politics in Manipur and Northeast India
Abstract
W hat is infrastructure? Why is infrastructure so bad in the hilly areas as compared to the valley in Manipur? How is injustice embedded in infrastructure, and how could ‘justice as fairness’ be reconstructed in the ‘hill-valley divide’ in Manipur? How were the tribal communities affected by non-tribal domination during British colonialism and the post-colonial era? These are the fundamental research questions presented by Raile Rocky Ziipao in his book Infrastructure of Injustice: State and Politics in Manipur and Northeast India. In his attempt to answer these questions, Ziipao undertook extensive ethnographic research in conflict-ridden Manipur, positioning ‘road and electricity’ at the centre of the political and social dynamic of building infrastructure. Infrastructure of Injustice began its journey as Ziipao’s doctoral work at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, under the guidance of Virginius Xaxa, who is well known for his contribution to tribal studies in India. The book unravels the complex and sensitive discourse on Manipur’s infrastructure from British invasion to the post-colonial period, the ‘hill and valley divide’, dialectic between tribes and non-tribes, the subjugation of tribes under ‘Meitei state hegemony’, and the corporatization of electricity. Ziipao brings the reader’s attention to the rationale behind the making of Manipur, echoing Lal Dena’s (1990) argument, that people from the hills were not considered Manipuri until the colonial takeover of the Manipur palace in 1891. This event marked the inclusion of the hills under the administration of Manipur. Drawing from his extensive ethnographic fieldwork, archival retrievals and official reports, Ziipao asserts that the Hill Areas, which occupy 90 per cent of the total geographical area of Manipur, are inflicted with infrastructural injustices, unlike the Valley, which occupies a mere 10 per cent of the state. The author cites the Infrastructure Index of 2006 of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MoDNER), which underlined the wide gap in infrastructure development between the Hill and Valley areas. Ziipao argues that the Hill-Valley divide stems from the disproportionate political representation and budget allocation between the two regions. The ethnic communities in the Valley, including Meitei, Meitei-Pangans and immigrants, receive satisfactory road connectivity and electrification, unlike the Naga and Zo (KukiMizo-Zomi) communities in the Hills. Besides, the author examines the interlinkages Strategic Analysis, 2021 Vol. 45, No. 4, 351–352, https://doi.org/10.1080/09700161.2021.1938944